Oft gestellte Fragen

What is TinkerTool?

TinkerTool is an application which gives you access to additional
preference settings Apple has built into macOS. This allows to activate
hidden features in the operating system and in some of the applications
that come with the system.

TinkerTool does not provide any features itself. Its single task is to
give you an extended interface to your personal preference settings. The
tool will never change anything in the operating system. For this
reason, the integrity of your system is not put at risk. All settings
are restricted to the user accounts that launch TinkerTool. If you have
multiple user accounts on your computer, settings of different users
will not affect each other.

The feature set of macOS varies greatly between different operating
system versions. For this reason, TinkerTool must automatically adapt to
the system it is running on. The settings available in each system
version are listed at
the official web page.

When you detect a preference setting that causes a compatibility
problem with a third-party application, you can simply reset this or all
preferences to their previous values.

Can I have a manual for TinkerTool?

There is no documentation other than this English FAQ list. Because
TinkerTool doesn't provide any features, there is not much that could be
documented. The tool has a single function: If you click on setting “X”,
TinkerTool will change your personal preference setting “X”. Apple may
change the meaning of setting “X” any time at their own discretion, so
we have absolutely no influence on the effects each setting may achieve.

What version of TinkerTool should I use for which version of macOS, OS
X, or Mac OS X?

Versions of TinkerTool are not directly related to versions of macOS.
TinkerTool uses unique technology to automatically adapt its user
interface to the operating system version you are currently running.
However, in order not to overload TinkerTool with dozens of styles for
all the different generations of macOS and to be able to support the
latest interface features of the OS, there are currently five different
applications in the TinkerTool series, designed for five basic product
generations of macOS:

For macOS 10.14 Mojave, use TinkerTool.
The program with the standard name TinkerTool is always designed to be
compatible with the latest official versions of Apple's operating
systems.

Could you please add feature “X” to TinkerTool?

In most cases, the answer is no. TinkerTool does not provide any
features, so it cannot add any. The features you are seeing are provided
by macOS and controlled by Apple. TinkerTool is only a helper
application to activate them.

However, if you know an additional built-in preference setting neither
accessible in System Preferences nor in TinkerTool, suggestions are
welcome. Note that we sometimes have to deny integration of a preference
setting because the setting may have a negative effect on some
applications (which is the reason why Apple did not make access to this
setting publicly available).

Do I need to restart the computer for changes to take effect?

No, this is never necessary. For many applications, it is sufficient to
quit and relaunch the respective programs. In all other cases, it is
sufficient to log out and log in for changes to take effect.

Are there unexpected issues when disabling the Finder animations for
opening Desktop icons?

Yes, there is one specific interaction with the Finder where a missing
animation for opening a Desktop icon may show an unusual result: When
you drag a Finder tab to the Desktop, the Finder expects that it can
always show an animation to convert the dragged miniature tab into a
Finder window. If that animation is switched off, the icon for the
miniature tab will just stay on the Desktop, behind the new window. It
will automatically disappear the next time the Finder is restarted.

Are there alternative ways to restart the Finder?

Yes, in up-to-date versions of macOS, you can hold down the option
(alt) key while right-clicking the Finder icon in the Dock. An item to
restart the Finder will be displayed in the context menu.

There are .DS_Store files everywhere! Has TinkerTool destroyed my
system?

No, you just have enabled the Finder's “show all files” option with
TinkerTool. The .DS_Store files are created by the Finder during its
normal course of operation but they are invisible by default. The Finder
will automatically put a .DS_Store file into every folder you have
opened. These files are used to save the positions of icons, the size of
the respective Finder window, the window's background, and many more
view options. While professional users consider the .DS_Store files to
be a design flaw of the macOS Finder, a mechanism like this is necessary
when opening Finder windows for exchangeable disk media to give former
users of the classic Mac OS the same user experience they had in
previous operating system versions. If you don't like to see the
.DS_Store files, disable the Finder option Show hidden and system
files in TinkerTool, or replace the Finder by a better file
management application.

Can I use TinkerTool to change fonts in macOS?

No, this has never been a feature of TinkerTool and this would not be a
good idea. Applications such as word processing or layout programs would
become unusable if TinkerTool would somehow force them to replace given
fonts with other fonts.

The pane “Fonts” is designed to change your personal preferred defaults
for fonts. Applications designed in a user-friendly way won't request
pre-specified fonts for controls in their user interface, they will ask
macOS for the preferred default font settings for nine particular font
categories instead. For example, an application displaying a fixed-pitch
font for a specific text view in a window will not send the request to
macOS to use the font “Menlo Regular 11 pt” for this text display.
Instead, it will ask macOS to fetch the font the user is currently
preferring for fixed-pitch use cases. This can be any font of your
choice, currently set for the category Fixed-pitch in
TinkerTool. The developers of applications determine for each single use
of typographic output if they like to use a specific font, “hard-wired”
in the application, or if they like to use a generic font, oriented at
the user's personal preferences.

Can I use the default font settings to increase the size of fonts?

Yes and no. You can specify a larger font as your preferred default
font for a certain usage category, as explained in the previous section.
However, this might not be a good idea for certain applications, because
you risk that texts will be clipped by surrounding elements, like boxes,
buttons, etc. when they are rendered with larger sizes. Parts of the
user interface could become unreadable.

The appropriate way to increase the size of fonts is to enlarge all
parts of the user interface. This is possible by modifying the rendering
resolution of the interface which is normally fixed at 72 pixels per
inch. Such changes cannot be controlled by simple user preferences. For
this reason, this cannot be part of TinkerTool. If you don't use a Mac
with a Retina screen, you might be able to control the overall screen
scaling factor by our alternative application TinkerTool
System 5. Please see its official web page for more information.

When specifying preferred fonts, can I use color, shadow, or other
effect settings?

No, macOS does not allow this. Although it is possible to control
shadows and similar options via the system's font panel, only font types
and font sizes will actually be set. All other settings you can
establish for fonts will be ignored.

Can I specify typefaces for all font categories?

Preferred font sizes can be specified for all 8 font categories defined
by Apple. The option to also set preferred typefaces, however, is not
applicable to all font categories. In the technical specifications of
macOS, Apple only defines the two use categories Application
Font and Fixed-pitch Font
as being user-customizable.

Can I specify font defaults for menus and the menu bar?

No, the menu-bar is a component taken over from the classic Mac OS. The
predecessor of macOS, NeXT OPENSTEP for Mach, did not use a menu bar.
For this reason, macOS never contained a feature to specify preferences
for the fonts used in menus.

The controls on the Safari pane are blocked. How can I use them?

As of macOS 10.14, all data of Safari are protected by the operating
system so that other applications cannot change them. This includes the
preference settings. In order to work with Safari's preference settings
in TinkerTool, you'll have to give your approval to do so:

Quit TinkerTool if it's running.

Open System Preferences.

Go to “Security & Privacy > Privacy”.

Click on the item “Full Disk Access” in the table at the left.

Click the lock to make changes.

Press the “+” button below the table at the right to add TinkerTool
the list of applications that have permission to access data of
Safari.

Why are options for Mail, Safari, or Time Machine on other panes
disabled?

The reason is the same as the one mentioned in the previous answer:
These applications are critical for your privacy, so they are protected
by macOS. You can only work with their preference settings after you
have given your explicit approval that TinkerTool can do so. Just follow
the instructions given in the preceding paragraph.

What is the difference between TinkerTool and TinkerTool System?

The applications share a similar user interface and internal
technologies. However, the features and target audience of the
applications are very different: TinkerTool is a utility that allows you
to set personal preference settings Apple has built into macOS.
TinkerTool is not capable of changing any system settings or other
settings that may affect more than your private user account. For this
reason, you don't need administrative permission to use TinkerTool. The
tool can be used in professional networks where you have limited access,
for example students working with the campus network.

TinkerTool System on the other hand is directed to system
administrators, consultants or experienced users that need to change and
optimize operating system settings. This will affect all users that
share a computer. Only user accounts with administrative permission can
use TinkerTool System, macOS does not allow access by standard users.

The tools do not share any duplicate settings or features. They
complement one another, to have the full feature set you'll need both
applications. It is not planned to offer the system tool in other
languages than English and German.

How can I remove TinkerTool?

Just drag the application to the trash. Because TinkerTool doesn't
install or change anything in the operating system, that's all. You
might consider resetting macOS's preferences you have changed via
TinkerTool to the pre-installation state before removing the tool. (See
the next item.)

I used TinkerTool for a while, then I deleted it. But all of its
settings are still effective, what should I do?

As mentioned above, TinkerTool just changes user preference settings of
macOS. Applications will respect their settings no matter if TinkerTool
is on your disk or not. If you want to reset your configuration, just
open the Reset pane in TinkerTool, choose one of the reset buttons, log
out and log in.

Why did Apple include so many hidden features in macOS?

Of course we cannot officially speak for Apple, but there are several
reasons why some built-in preference settings of macOS are usually kept
under the hood:

Settings for professional users: Some settings,
e.g. the preference to show hidden and system files in the Finder, are
official features of macOS but Apple intentionally does not disclose
them to normal end users. Those features are documented to developers
or to professional users which read the technical manuals of macOS.
This way Apple can keep the user interface simple, at the same time
not excluding particular user groups from using advanced features.
Especially in professional networks, system administrators even don't
like the graphical user interface but prefer shell scripts and the
Terminal command-line. So there are also cases where Apple considers
it too costly to develop a graphical user interface, thinking that
most users would not use it.

OPENSTEP settings untouched by Apple: Technically
seen, macOS is not a successor of Mac OS but of NeXT's operating
system OPENSTEP for Mach. This operating system
contained several features which are still part of macOS. In some
cases, Apple does not want to touch some of the old features, because
this could have the risk of unwanted side effects. For this reason,
these functions have never been deactivated but are “sleeping” in the
OS.

Features hidden for design and marketing reasons:
System developers usually think far ahead while designing their
applications. For this reason they prepare or implement many features
without a direct order. In some cases they “play” with some features
or need them for temporary testing purposes. However, superiors or the
marketing division might later decide that a feature is “too
advanced”, “not needed by most users”, or “doesn't look right”.
Because it can be very expensive and time-consuming to remove program
code, those functions are only deactivated, not deleted, and we have
another “sleeping” feature.

This list of reasons is not necessarily complete. The strategy of
hiding built-in features is not unusual, you can see the same on other
operating systems as well. For example, Microsoft® had a tool called Microsoft
PowerToys (formerly called Tweak UI) which did a
similar job on MS-Windows® XP as TinkerTool does on macOS.